Before and After
by Keda Ish
Summary: Work in progress A fill in to the childhoods of Van and Dilandau and what happened to them after the great war.Rated M just to be safe. Not sure where it will take me yet.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer I do not own anything involving Escaflowne.

"You aren't even significant eough to have a rank here," Iskane told the kneeling, trembling boy infront of him. Blood was pooling around the childs face. He was kneeling, you see, his face pressed hard aginst the mess halls metal floor. " Now apologize for wasting food."

" I am sorry for spilling ym rice Iskane-sama," the boy said without raising his head.

Iskane grinned." Now stand and face the hall. Tell everyone your sorry for being an ignorant, useless fool. "

The silver haired boy stood and faced the mess hall. All the boys looked at him expectantly. " I ,Dilandau Albatou, ask your forgiveness for being an ignorant, worthless fool," he said his voice loud and clear. He stared around the room hoping any of the others would say something. He would see to them tonight if they did.

No one spoke. A few of the younger boys even turned their back and finished eating. Iskane however only continued smiling. He was impressed. Dilandau _was_ known for being violent towards the other students. Though the fear he had instilled in them all surpassed the albinos reputation. " Sit by me Dilandau and finish eating," Iskane told him.

He turned slowly and met his senior instructors gaze. Hate and revenge showed is his crimson eyes. He gave a short, curt bow and took the seat next to Iskane,but did not eat. His mouth hurt too much.

-- The same day elsewhere--

" Van!" Merle jumped onto Vans bed ,bouncing happily. Today was her birthday and she wanted to know what Van had gotten her. She was five now and no longer a child!

" Merle its too early! Go back to bed," Van said from under a pillow.

Merle poked Vans side- right where he was tickleish- and screamed into his ear," WAKE UP!"

He rolled out of bed then. He was used to Merle's alarm setting. Almost everymorning she came into his room and they went through this. It was a special day for her though. That much he admitted. Just once he'd like to sleep past the sunrise. Sometimes the birds weren't even up when the kitten would come yelling at him.

" Morning Merle," he said pulling a shirt out of a pile by his bed and sniffing it. Clean. He pulled it over his head.

"So what did you get me Van-Sama? Hm?" Merle bobbed expectantly on Vans bed. She had on a blue dress today. Van recognized it as the one Rilo was making her for her birthday. Atleast he wasn't the only one she had woken up early.

" I like your dress," he said.

" Its from Rilo. She was kinda mad I woke her up but she got happy quick enough," she tugged at a corner of the hem smiling.

" I forgot your birthday Merle. Sorry," Van said then took off running. He knew this wasn't going to be good.

"WHAT!!!!!!!"

He looked back over his shoulder and saw Merle- on all fours- running after him. He stumbled most of the way down the stairs and swung left into the kitchen. Merle was close behind him. He stopped next to the chopping table and smiled wide.

" Happy Birthday!" he yelled and so did everyone else in the room. All the staff and all the generals were there. On the table stood a huge cake decorated in bright orange and yellow flowers.

Merle started crying and wrapped herself around Vans waist. "I'm sorry Van-Sama! Oh thank you so much. Its beautiful. I love it," She said crying.

Behind Van, Balgus laid a big hand on the seven year olds shoulder. Van looked up at the scarred man without fear and smiled. " Thank you for helping me plan this Balgus," the fanelian prince said. Balgus only smiled then picked Merle up from Vans waist. Merle was almost like a daughter to Balgus. The General smiled and threw the kitten into the air and a new round of happy birthdays went with her.

Keda- Short chapter , I know. Sorry. Next one will be better I promise.

Dilandau- First chapter and I'm already bleeding. I'm not liking this.

Keda- Oh hush. Your just jealous that Van got to throw a birthday party.

Van- Yeah . It's cause I'm cool and stuff!

Keda- No its cause your a wuss.

Zell- Don't call me a wuss!

Keda- I'm going back to eating my Instant Lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer - I don't own Escaflowne. Blah blah blah. You know the rest.

Fanelia

Van stood waiting in the training room. Balgus was never late. It almost had Van worried, but he had faith in Balgus to know it was for a good reason. Van unsheathed his katana and began going through a few basic combos. Adding a few turns and twists to them. He knew that the moves were useless but they looked good. He continued the same routines till he could slip back into his mind, letting his muscles memory keep up the moves.

" Remember that being a good person is more important than being a powerful person," Vari told him as he sat on her lap playing with a toy horse. Folken sat infront of her on the ground. He was thirteen and Van was three.

" Whats the diffrence ,Mother?" Folken had asked.

Vari had smiled at him sadly," With power comes corruption. Its is harder to be strong and good. To put other peoples needs before your own. Even if you don't have to. That is being a good person. when you are King and have a country depending on you, you will understand Folken."

" When do I get to be King Mama?" Van had asked. He had been listening to the conversation but didn't really understand it.

" You can be King now little brother!" Folken scooped up a giggling Van from his mothers lap. " And I will be your loyal subject. How can I serve you Your highness?"

" I want to go fishing!" Van cried- straight into Folkens ear. Vari laughed quietly to herself as Folken winced at his siblings pitch.

" Van-Sama!" Balgus had come into the room. " Your form was terrible. Where was your mind? It was not on your sword."

" I'm sorry Balgus," Van caught sight of an older boy in the door way. " Who's that?" he sneered.

The boy stepped forward at Balgus's beckoning. " This is your new sparring partner, Hugar."

" I don't need a sparring partner. I'm fine on my own," Van turned around and began walking to the weapon rack to get his training sword. About halfway there he heard feet running . He turned and dropped into a fighting stance bringing his sword up just in time to meet the new boys weapon. Both boys fought to push the other away and neither moved. They both jumped back and began circling each other.

" How dare you attack royalty!" Van screamed at him. He was on the verge of attacking Balgus for letting this peasent attack him. These weren't even training swords. These were real. He could get hurt. Or , he could hurt Hugar.

He rushed in sword high, guiding Hugars sword up to block it. He had planned on landing a punch to Hugars exposed ribs but a sudden elbow to his exposed chin stopped that. Stunned Van fell backa few steps and brought up his guard. Hugar only gave him a few seconds before he rushed his own attack.

Instead of trying trickery, Hugar came into is guard by pushing his weight and extra inches against Vans sword. Vans arm began to give way to the pressure buckling into his chest so he stpped out of the clench to his left. Hugar turned his movement to follow Vans and swung his blade across Vans chest. Van barely brought his sword up to parry the attack. He kept creeping away from the boy, blocking assualt after assualt. Soon his arms began to tire with the vibrations of metal bashing metal. Still the other boy pushed forward. A cocky grin was pasted onto Hugars face. He pushed Van into a clench again .

" I'd expect better from a future King," he whispered into Van's ear then pushed himself off the stunned Prince and brought his foot forward into Vans abdoman.

Van fell to his knees, dropping his sword, gasping for breath. He heard Balgus walking up to him.The warrior looked down at Van.

"Get up my Prince and think about your mistakes. Those are the reasons you need a sparring partner," Blagus offered a large scarred hand to Van. He took it and let the man pull him to his feet.

"Take the rest of the day off Van-Sama," Balgus said and turned his back. He placed a hand on Hugars shoulder and led him out of the room.

Alone in the training room Van cried out his anger, his shame and his betrayal. Balgus had embarassed him. He would rather be with that peasent Hugar. No one wanted to be with him. They always chose someone else.

--

Zaibach

There was blood everywhere. But not all of it was his. Six older boys had cornered him in the hall way outside the gym. And when all the yelling started plenty more had come running to watch. Now those boys were either unconcious or trying to crawl away from him , through the wall of spectators. He stopped by the head of the leader of the group.

" What was it you called me? A freak, right?" he giggled. His foot swung out and connected with the boys face. It hit again and again. It didn't stop till the boys face was an unrecognizable pulp. " Who's the fucking freak now?" he kept screaming.

A hand grabbed him by the hair and slung him into the wall. His head thudded against the metal hard enough to make his vision swim. He slid down into a sitting position turning till his back was on the wall.

Dilandau looked up into Iskanes face. ' This is going to hurt,' he thought.

And it did.

Iskane had beat him so badly that two days later he was still in the infirmary. In a bed next to Mr. Pulp face- atleast thats what Dilandau called him when no one was around. His face was still severly bruised, but he could open his eyes again. Breathing though was still tough. But an indetermined number of broken ribs will do that. Still two days in the infrimary were two training days lost. And with the Exams coming up this was bad. He knew his ribs wouldn't be healed in time. He had passed last year with a broken hand. Also caused by Iskane.

Pulp gasped next to him. He did that from time to time. Dilandau heard the nurse coming. She was worthless. Always around and never doing anything. Still she was scared of him, and he liked that. Yesterday he had slapped her for poking his ribs. " Do they still hurt?" she had asked. While she was kneeling on the floor- holding her cheek- he had asked" Did that hurt bitch?" She didn't touch him now.

At the next bed over she was checking Pulps pulse. Her brows furrowed and she began to fumble around with his gown. The guys chest was a massive bruise. Dilandau smirked with satisfaction. Hey it wasn't his fault that the issued boots had such hard soles, was it?

"Doctor!" the little nurse screeched. " Hurry, I can't find a pulse!" She was wincing as she tried pumping his chest. There was no way to do mouth to mouth. You couldn't tell what his mouth was.

The doctor came running and took over trying to revive the kid. He looked up at Dilandau from his pumping and glared at him. Dilandau smiled at him and then blew the idiot a kiss.

The doctor returned to his work. After three minutes he stopped and covered the boy with his sheet. A little but of blood soaked through- the pumping movements had torn open some stitches. "He's dead," the doctor said and looked at Dilandau again. " How does it feel to be a murderer Albatou? I hope you like it. " The man turned and went down the hall , disappearing into the main corridor. The little nurse ran back to her office crying.

Dilandau found he liked being a murderer. Having power over someones life was wonderful. It made his smile again. If the boy had not already been dead, that smile would have killed him.

-

Later that week in Zaibach.

Yes, Dilandau liked killing. However he didn't like this trial nonsense. They were trying to get him put into the dungeon for killing Pulp Face. Who's name even as they repeated it for the millionth time Dilandau still could not remember.

" He did it in cold blood!" yelled the boys parents lawyer.

" They students started the fight," Iskane said calmly. " Dilandau merely protected himself."

They were in a closed room. No judge , no jury. Zaibach law did not include those. Only a meeting of sides and terms set then agreed to. Thats how everything was done. No long drawn out nonsense.

" He killed that boy Iskane and you know it. His parents want Dilandau put away. For life," the lawyer said a little calmer.

" That freak should be destroyed!" the boys Father screamed.

Dilandau's eye twitched but he remained quiet. Actually he was very laid back during the whole thing. Slumping lazily in his chair. Instead of paying attention he thought about the Exams coming up. His ribs still hurt, quite a bit really. He was training daily and was building up a great tolerance to the pain. That and the amount of smuggled Vino he drank covered up the rest of the pain. He smirked as he thought about it. ' I'm ten years old and already a drunk and a murderer!'

" I have already made arrangements that directly following the exams he will recieve some counseling and be removed from the academy," Iskane said.

Dilandau paid attention. Removed from the academy? Thats not good.

" He will be put somewhere where he can be supervised constantly and not be a threat to the population," Something in Iskanes tone scared Dilandau.

The lawyer whispered with pulps parents. " We accept those terms," he said when he turned back around.

Iskane rose and grabbed Dilandau by his shirt collar , pushing him out of the room infront of him. He didn't stop 'directing' Dilandau till they had made it back to the boys room. He shoved Dilandau inside.

" I'm sure your wondering where your going?" He stood over the boy and smirked down at him.

Dilandau nodded. Iskane didn't scare him, but he hurt him. Literally.

" After exams you will be sent to the floating fortress Vione. There you will continue your training with me personally. Feel important boy. I'm giving up my position here to train your pathetic ass. Do not disappoint me. Ever. The sorcerers can always fix what I break. Remember that," he turned and left the room. Dilandau heard the click of the door locking. He flung himself at the door.

" No, don't leave me in here! Please. Stop. Iskane-Sama! PLEASE! Not alone!" Dilandau beat his fist on the door till they were bloody and his fingers broken. When his hands hurt too bad to beat he switched to his head until he knocked himself unconcious. All the time he screamed then mumbled," Not alone."

Keda- Please R&R. I'd appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer I don't own Escaflowne or anything to do with it.

Note - Dealing with Guymelefs.

Since there isn't a whole lot to go on about how Guymelefs are operated I had to make some (educated) guesses. Hopefully it's not too outlandish for ya'll.

ZAIBACH

White, 9th Moon

The training hall was full. All the students were there, standing in their neat rows. Sorted by age group. Uniforms perfectly presented for inspection. The youngest boys were up front. The five year olds were a mix of the groggy and the terrified. At the suspended podium General Adelphos was giving his long, drawn out, speech about honor and duty.

Dilandau had heard this same speech four times now. He'd started a year late. Though he couldn't remember why. Today he was near the back in the fifth section. He had his eyes locked on the Zaibach sigil on the podium but was focusing on feet. His big toes to be more precise. He was trying to move these digits without the reflexive movements of the other toes. It was harder than he thought. The left toe was easier to work than his right.

Iskane passed through the rows of the older boys, making sure they were all paying- or pretending to- attention to the General. He passed behind Dilandau and smiled. Even in the strict measured lines, the boys next to the albino had allowed a couple of extra inches space between them. Iskane usually didn't take part in the exams. This year he decided to.

--

FANELIA

White, 12th Moon.

" As a treat for your birthday, you shall begin Guymelef battle training!" Balgus said with a faint smile. Van stood beside him in the dusty Guymelef Shed.

' Couldn't a day off have been my present,' he thought wearily too himself. He stretched out and gave a big yawn. Merle had woken him up before dawn again. To give him her gift. It had actually been a really nice gift.She had given him a new pair of rabbit skin gloves. " I made them!" She had yelled into Vans ear. Other than the mediocre sewing job they actually fit well.

Van closed his eyes and took in the sounds and smells of the Shed. It was a calming place. The musty smell of old air and wood mixed with the sweet smell of grease and hay. The sounds of a rasp sharpening the huge swords. The distant clinking of someone replacing pullies and valves inside one of the giant machines. He opened his eyes. The training 'melefs sat in rows around him and far to the back holding places of honor were the four Generals guymelefs. The custom suites were all covered in a film of dust .

He turned to follow Balgus towards the guymelef he would use and spotted Hugar getting settled in one of the abused machines. The blonde boy looked over at Van and winked. They still didn't get along, but that helped them train. Van noted that Hugars melef was not one of the more beat up ones. Actually aside from his own it was in the best shape.

" Suite up Van-Sama and meet in the Arena," Balgus said , heading off to help Hugar.

Deep inside Van anger reared its head. It bordered on hate for the older boy. Balgus was really the closest thing to family he had and Hugar was taking him away. Van knew it was becuase he was lacking as a fighter. Balgus thought he should be as good as his Father, but Van really didn't like to fight. He hated Hugar for taking Balgus's attention. He hated him even more for having a family. Often Hugars mother and younger siblings came to watch him fight, and they cheered him on even when he was doing poorly.

Van climbed stiffly into the cockpit. He almost wished as he climbed that he'd fall through a rusted plate and fall to his death. See who cried then. He settled into the tight confines of the seat and slid his arma and legs through the rigs. Actually he enjoyed working in the guymelefs. The tight confines calmed him, almost soothed him. He spent alot of time suited up. Learning to manipulate the machines movements and most importantly learning its limitations. Today when Balgus said he'd start 'melef training he meant combat.

" Do you feel secure Van-Sama?" The attendant asked him rechecking the chest strap.

" Yes, thank you Coutiel," Van gave the man a small smile.

' Be good to your subjects and they will love you,' his mother had told her sons. Van tried it as much as possible.

When Coutiel had made it to the ground Van wasted no time in pressing the first button on the left hand grip and closing himself into the cockpit. Then he depressed the second button and the face guard slide back. He took a deep breath and shifted himself forward. The Guymelef stood with his shift and Vans heart started pounding. Really he loved this part.

--

ZAIBACH

White, 12th Moon

He'd been waiting. Threed days actually. And he hadn't even picked a fight with anyone. Really though, it _was_ three days extra healing time. His left hand was still numb, that was good. The right one hurt but more of a throbbing than sharp pains. He used that pain now ,as he gripped his sword handle, to fuel his adrenaline. He was up next and the bandage on his forehead itched.

" Dilandau Albatou of Zaibach! Step forward and show your worth!" Iskane summoned him from the judges box.

The metal doors infront of him with a whisper. The light hit his sensitive eyes but he didn't flinch away.

In the middle of the arena stood a face very familiar to him. You see they were tied for first rank in their year. ' Miguel Lavriel. Taller with more reach but slow on the counter,' Dilandau thought to himself. He flashed the brunette boy his infamous grin and then took up his guard.

" Stage One: Sinlge opponent," Iskane grinned. Yes this year would be interesting.

Keda- Pretty boring chapter I know. Sorry.

Dilandau- Yeah when do I get to hurt something again?

Keda- Soon. Soon. Don't get your panties in a bunch.

Van- You know he did have on Celenas blue ones the other day.

Dilandau- Your dead Van!

Keda- Goes to get first aid kit Boys...


End file.
